Purpose

Despite its Australian birthplace, the ugg boot industry is now fully dominated by one American company, and the Australian ugg boot industry has been frozen out of global trade. This study aims to consider the impact on the competitive advantage of culturally distinctive but not new, intellectual property (IP) through the historic lens of the Australia–USA battle over the UGG boot trademark.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses trademark applications, court documents, annual reports and brand reports to trace the history of the change and growth of the ugg boot industry from a small cottage industry in Australia to a billion-dollar monopoly controlled by an American company.

Findings

Court documents and trademark applications from 1979 to 2019 indicate that Australian firms underestimated the cultural differences between the USA and Australia and thus failed to adequately protect the generic word “ugg” in foreign markets where it was considered to be distinctive, rather than generic.

Practical implications

The paper highlights the importance of the first-mover advantage that can be conferred upon a firm by IP that is not new. Trademarks must be distinctive, rather than new, but properly used, they can offer substantial global competitive advantages to firms.

Originality/value

The in-depth analysis of the development of the UGG brand highlights the importance of intangible barriers in global business. The impact on the competitive advantage these intangible barriers gave US firms over Australian firms in the worldwide sheepskin boot market is discussed.

中文翻译：

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靴子之战：1979-2019 年全球 UGG 靴子行业的商标和竞争力

目的

尽管起源于澳大利亚，但 ugg boot 行业现在完全由一家美国公司主导，澳大利亚 ugg boot 行业已被冻结在全球贸易之外。本研究旨在通过澳大利亚和美国争夺 UGG 靴子商标的历史视角，考虑具有独特文化但并非新的知识产权 (IP) 对竞争优势的影响。

设计/方法/方法

本研究使用商标申请、法庭文件、年度报告和品牌报告来追溯 ugg boot 行业从澳大利亚的一个小型家庭手工业到由一家美国公司控制的价值数十亿美元的垄断行业的变化和增长的历史。

发现

1979年至2019年的法院文件和商标申请表明，澳大利亚的公司低估了美国和澳大利亚之间的文化差异，因此未能在外国市场上充分保护通用词“ ugg”，因为该词被认为与众不同而不是通用。

实际影响

该论文强调了可以通过非新知识产权赋予公司的先发优势的重要性。商标必须是独特的，而不是新的，但如果使用得当，它们可以为公司提供巨大的全球竞争优势。

原创性/价值

对UGG品牌发展的深入分析凸显了无形壁垒在全球业务中的重要性。讨论了这些无形壁垒对美国公司在全球羊皮靴市场上对澳大利亚公司的竞争优势的影响。